Soldiers from the Central Command were shocked Tuesday to discover that their new dishes had been wrapped in pages torn from holy books, according to Channel 2.
Immediately after the incident, the commanders on site ordered that the plates be left in their moving cartons until the situation could be clarified.
"It doesn't make sense that someone would wrap the plates in Bible pages and send them to the base," a military source stated to the Israeli news site. "A Bible is a holy object that you cannot defile." Jewish books are traditionally handled with special care, with adherents making sure not to drop the books, mishandle them, or even put them back on the shelf upside down.
"Even if we had gotten the plates wrapped in books of other faiths, like the Koran or the New Testament, we wouldn't accept this," the source continued. "This is a defilement of religion and belief and it is unacceptable."
The Defense Ministry ordered the dishes, not the IDF. The Ministry is responsible for all military equipment - not just guns and parachutes, but smaller necessities as well, including kitchen supplies.
The Ministry "harshly condemns" the incident, and stated that an investigation had already been launched into the kitchen supply company contracted for the plates. The plates had been wrapped and shipped by subcontractors, the statement revealed, who had immediately been fired.
"The Ministry of Defense will continue investigation into the matter to ensure that incidents like this do not recur," the Ministry concluded.